President Donald Trump is expected to sign a government funding bill today that would force him to restore a portion of the humanitarian and economic assistance he eliminated for Palestine.
The compromise spending legislation would only restore approximately one-third of the annual economic and humanitarian aid that the United States had provided to the West Bank and Gaza prior to Trump’s 2018 decision to eliminate it. However, the spending package also includes new restrictions limiting Trump’s ability to divert assistance to other countries, as he did last year when the State Department reprogrammed $215 million in Palestinian economic aid.
“Of critical importance, the bill limits the administration’s ability to redirect or deviate from congressionally directed spending levels,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said on the floor earlier this week.
The foreign aid spending legislation, which passed the House 207-120 and the Senate 71-23 this week, includes $75 million in humanitarian and economic aid for the West Bank and Gaza alongside another $75 million for security aid to support the Palestinian Authority (PA). The $150 million in Palestinian aid comes as Congress snubbed the White House’s request to provide $175 million in funding for Trump’s long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace plan.
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